Rebels

Ch. 10

Another day had gone by, and Jack was bored out of his mind. Indiscriminately he would roam the room, scavenging every inch of it for food or valuable items. When he was soon tired of that, he would turn on the television and study the image portrayed. He found that Lyla was telling the truth. The picture never changed.

Arin was now taking his place on the couch, whereas Jack found himself upon a chair across from Arin. He drummed his fingers repeatedly against the bone of his knee, not wanting to sit still for more than a minute.

"Jack, it's barely even been a day. Why are you so anxious?" Arin mentioned.

Jack began cracking his knuckles, for his fingers felt stiff. "You know the answer to your question."

At that, Arin rolled his eyes, looking at the ceiling while doing so. "If you want to become a part of this rebellion, then what are you still doing here?"

"You said it yourself. I'm not good at hiding." Jack replied.

Just then, Lyla came out of her bedroom, in front of Luca, who dragged his feet behind her and slowly closed the door. Luca headed towards the counter, where he began searching the cabinets for food.

Jack stood. "Don't bother. I already searched for food. There's nothing."

Luca groaned, leaning his elbows on the countertop. "Lyla, your friend of yours is a total-"

"There is nothing wrong with Jack." Lyla interrupted, knowing what would have come out from Luca's mouth if she hadn't.

Luca glanced at Jack and Arin, then lowered his head into his hands. "Why are those two still here?"

Lyla sighed, expecting this type of behavior to come from her brother. "Luca, they are interested in the rebellion."

At this, Luca stiffened. Jack knew that there was something that he wasn't in on, and he didn't like it. He preferred to be included rather than discluded, and the fact that Lyla hadn't told him everything offended him.

Arin stepped forward, protruding his hand into the air. "Actually, I never said I was interested, just to clarify."

Jack frowned. He thought for sure Arin would be in after sleeping on it. Jack was now thinking that he possibly may be going about this rebellion idea in the wrong way.

"Fine." Lyla said, slightly cocking her head to the side. "Jack here, is interested."

Jack and Arin both watched as Luca raised his eyebrows, appearing to have been completely frozen. Then, and only then, did he speak. "Well, this just can't be!" He said, rather in a loud manner. "For everyone knows the rebellion is against the law." He glanced at his sister, Lyla, and raised his one eyebrow up.

Lyla placed her hands on her hips and smiled. "The monitor's gone, Luca."

Jack was surprised to hear this. He had taken Lyla as a figure of complete obedience and sass. He was second-guessing that theory now. He hadn't even seen her take the monitor out of her pocket! Jack had usually never missed any detail. This was new to him.

Luca breathed a sigh of relief and muttered something indecipherable to himself. He then suddenly appeared to be frustrated at his sister's actions. "Now you've gotten yourself in trouble. Why would you do that?" He slammed his palm down on the counter, his own action seeming to cause him to wince at the intensity it contained.

"Luca, you know that they wouldn't have stopped tracking us down if I hadn't. I did us a favor." Lyla defended herself.

Luca looked defeated in his own thoughts. He paused, biting his fingernail. "Why are you interested in the rebellion?" He diverted his attention towards Jack, who shifted uncomfortably, suddenly in the spotlight.

Jack cleared his throat, gathering his thoughts. "I want to be an outsider." It did him good to say that. He felt his skills were growing rusty, and he knew that the small fork he had found back at Lyla's home, which was in his pocket, wasn't worth as he had hoped. He knew that it was time for him to change his profession a little bit. "I want to be a part of something that is against what everyone else goes by."

Luca turned, opening a cabinet. From it he protruded one blue sheet of paper, lying it flat on the counter. Jack and Arin both stepped forward, inching closer to get a better look at the blueprint.

Luca ran his finger around the entire paper. "This is a layout of the city." He then pointed his finger to a drawn circle containing a variety of buildings. "This is the general area of the broadcast. Lyla's friend who lives here actually was of good use to us in areas of hacking technology that Lyla and I couldn't do." He explained. "Of course, everyone has scavenged this area and tore it apart inside and out." Luca paused, leaning his elbows against the table and propping his head up on his hands. "Yet, no one's been able to find anything."

"So the broadcast is like a ghost?" Arin said, crossing his arms.

Luca nodded his head. "Right."

Lyla suddenly edged away from us, paying attention to the television in the other room. It had been turned on, and something on the screen caught her eye. She walked into the room, cautiously taking in the image. Jack and the others trailed behind her, too, interested in what caught her attention.

Instead of the usual fist against the smoky background, now an image of white smoke filled the screen, and the silhouette of a man was lying at the bottom of the screen, the back of his head turned towards the screen. It was easy for Jack to infer that the man at the bottom of the image was dead.

Behind Jack, Luca swore. He walked back into the main room and grabbed the blueprint in his hands, crumbling it up and throwing it into a garbage bin. Lyla followed him and smacked him hard in the arm. "What are you doing?"

Luca winced, still recovering partly from his hangover and partly from the impact of Lyla. "Our stupid plan was never going to work. The rebellion's gone, Lyla."

"You don't know that!" She raised her voice, frustrated at her brother.

Luca turned to her, his eyes wild with rage. "What else would it mean, Lyla? Use your head." He turned, walking back into the other room. He slammed the door behind himself, seeming to make the whole house shake.

Lyla turned to Jack and Arin, sighing. "That was dramatic."